Maoist held for killing businessman

KOLKATA - A Maoist in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas was Friday arrested by the state police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for extorting and killing a businessman, police said.

“Sushanta Sil demanded Rs.6 lakh from Gopal Saha - a businessman of Halisahar. On being refused, the rebels murdered him last month. Sil was arrested this (Friday) morning,” said Deputy Inspector General of CID’s Special Operation Group Rajeev Mishra.

“He was produced before the Barrackpore court in the afternoon and remanded to police custody up to Dec 26,” he added.

“We came to know about Sil’s involvement in the murder case from the statement made by the Communist party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) state committee member Barun Sur alias Bidyut,” he said.

Bidyut and four other senior CPI-Maoist leaders were arrested Dec 4 by the Special Task Force of the Kolkata Police.